# Sources and interpretation

## Biblical narrative

Event order and summaries are grounded in Exodus 12–20, 40, Numbers 10–14, 20–21, 32–33, Deuteronomy 1–8, 11, 16, 25, 29–31, 34, and Joshua 3–6, 13, 18, 21, 24. Summaries and discussion questions are original editorial content, not quotations from a copyrighted translation.

Numbers 33 provides an itinerary backbone. This atlas selects teaching stops rather than plotting every camp. The September 23, 2026 editorial review of all 18 stops is recorded in [CONTENT_AUDIT.md](CONTENT_AUDIT.md) and the public content-audit.html page. Each stop includes a context note, a classified Deuteronomy connection, and location evidence links. This review checks narrative relevance and geographic representation; it is not independent scholarly certification or verification of the biblical events. Deuteronomy 1:1–5 establishes the setting of Moses' speeches; Deuteronomy 2:14 supplies the 38-year Kadesh-to-Zered interval. Joshua 13:1–7 distinguishes the territory still to be taken from the allotment narrative.

The original Exodus atlas linked passages to Bible Gateway without bundling text; the current atlas bundles the BSB and KJV (below) and links to Bible Gateway for other translations. Selected translation availability and the external website are outside this application's control.

## Biblical coordinates

Stephen Smith / OpenBible.info, **Bible Geocoding Data**.

- https://github.com/openbibleinfo/Bible-Geocoding-Data
- https://www.openbible.info/geo/
- License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 for the dataset. This app uses selected point coordinates and source IDs, with original explanatory notes. It does not include source photographs or OpenStreetMap-derived geometry from that dataset.
- Accessed: September 22, 2026 (America/New_York).
- `public/data/place-evidence.json` records the selected dataset IDs, candidate modern locations, and coordinates. Canonical evidence links were checked on September 23, 2026. Identified-site symbols denote widely accepted localities (Jericho, Shiloh, Shechem); proposed-site symbols retain uncertainty; approximate-region symbols denote editorial areas, each paired with a shaded extent. Shiloh is an identified assembly locality, while its surrounding tribal labels remain approximate. Those point coordinates do not certify that the narrative events occurred at that candidate site.

Regional boxes for the sea crossing, wilderness, Edom, Moab, and Jordan crossing are editorial illustration extents. They are not source-derived confidence polygons. Tribal labels are rough regional teaching anchors guided by Joshua's allotment narrative, not border datasets. No accurate tribal-boundary dataset is claimed.

## Whole-Bible atlas data

Robert Rouse, **Theographic Bible Metadata**.

- https://github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata
- License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (per the repository's LICENSE file; the project website states CC BY 4.0, and the stricter repository license is followed here).
- Imported from commit `cfb1c485d4da6fb63a69cb3b7f5b0752792f46bc` (April 21, 2026) by `scripts/import-theographic.mjs`, accessed October 4, 2026.
- `content/theographic/` and the `public/atlas/` era files generated at build time are adaptations (selected fields, re-parented events, computed verse ranges, rule-assigned location categories) and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Theographic place coordinates derive from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0) and link to the Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
- Bible text: the **Berean Standard Bible**, dedicated to the public domain on April 30, 2023 (https://berean.bible/licensing.htm), from https://bereanbible.com/bsb.txt (retrieved October 4, 2026; SHA-256 pinned in `scripts/import-bsb.mjs`), stored by chapter in `content/text/bsb/`. Sixteen verses the BSB omits are kept as empty entries and labelled in the reader. KJV text (public domain) for Acts comes from Theographic's verse table.
- Roman province borders: **Ancient World Mapping Center**, `roman_empire_ce_200_provinces` from https://github.com/AWMC/geodata (commit `7ecf8bccea2efe1e1e9df2daf6001942de73fb87`, April 22, 2024), licensed under the ODC Open Database License 1.0 and derived from the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. `scripts/prepare-atlas-maps.mjs` clips and simplifies the lines and drops the post–AD 50 boundaries listed in `content/maps/roman-ad50.json`. The resulting border data in `public/atlas/maps/` is shared under ODbL 1.0. These are c. AD 200 lines adjusted toward the mid-first century, not a surveyed AD 50 reconstruction. The Herodian map outlines Herod the Great's kingdom at his death (AWMC `herods_kingdom`, same commit and license).
- The 18 Exodus–Joshua teaching stops, with their summaries, context notes, Deuteronomy connections, questions, OpenBible identifications and illustrative regional extents, were migrated unchanged from the original app's `src/data/journey.ts` (removed afterwards; see Git history) into `content/authored/` and `content/editorial/` (Exodus & Wilderness: 14 stops; Conquest & Judges: 4). Their September 23, 2026 review status carries over. Those maps reuse the shaded relief described below, with Natural Earth ocean polygons drawn over it.
- Gospel events follow an editorial harmony order and grouping in `content/editorial/life-of-jesus.json`. Three Theographic locations were corrected at import (Sermon on the Mount, the Samaritan village of Luke 9, the return from Egypt), and spelling errors in eight Theographic titles are fixed before ids are derived; all are listed in `content/reports/`.
- Editorial summaries, dates, routes and notes in `content/editorial/` are original writing kept in separate files. Theographic's own dates follow a traditional (Ussher-style) chronology and are used only to cross-check order; they are not displayed.

## Physical map

**Natural Earth**, 1:10m land, ocean, lakes, and rivers.

- https://www.naturalearthdata.com/
- https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/
- Source files: https://github.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/tree/master/geojson
- Public domain. Features were selected for the map region, properties reduced, and coordinates rounded to five decimal places. Geography is modern.

**Mapzen terrain tiles**, Terrarium encoding, zoom 8, x=145–159 / y=98–111.

- https://registry.opendata.aws/terrain-tiles/
- https://github.com/tilezen/joerd/blob/master/docs/attribution.md
- Global SRTM and GMTED2010 elevation data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey; ETOPO1 courtesy of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. See upstream attribution for source-specific terms.
- Tiles were mosaicked, decoded into elevation, and converted to a colorized shaded-relief image with modest vertical exaggeration. Cream-to-ochre elevation tints and soft green washes around the Nile and Levant are illustrative cartographic styling, not historical vegetation data. This derived rendering is not an unmodified USGS/NOAA product and carries no agency endorsement.

## Fonts and software

- DM Sans and Libre Caslon Display: Google Fonts, SIL Open Font License. Local font files and upstream license texts are in `public/fonts/`.
- Leaflet: BSD 2-Clause; https://github.com/Leaflet/Leaflet
- React: MIT; https://github.com/facebook/react
- Lucide icons: ISC; https://github.com/lucide-icons/lucide

No source code was copied from the researched Bible atlas applications.

## Leaflet license

BSD 2-Clause License

Copyright (c) 2010-2023, Volodymyr Agafonkin
Copyright (c) 2010-2011, CloudMade
All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

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## Map visual reference

The [NWT Exodus map](https://www.jw.org/en/library/bible/nwt/appendix-b/map-exodus-from-egypt/) informed the pale-blue water, warm desert, green lowlands, dark italic geographic labels, and red journey styling. Its artwork is not bundled or traced; map geometry and relief are generated from the sources above. Existing event coordinates and confidence categories are unchanged. Additional wilderness and regional labels are approximate editorial anchors, revealed by zoom level and hidden when they overlap place labels or controls.

## Joshua–Ruth draft expansion (October 6, 2026)

The Conquest & Judges era now contains 46 original teaching stops: the four migrated reviewed stops and 42 new drafts. Summaries, questions and contextual notes were written against the public-domain BSB bundled in `content/text/bsb/06.json`, `07.json` and `08.json`; linked readings are validated against the bundled text. The new writing is not an additional historical certification or a completed scholarly audit. Review labels remain Draft.

New coordinates use the OpenBible Bible Geocoding Data already credited above. Each place record links to the corresponding identification page. Gilgal near Jericho, the Ephraim hills, Gilead, Sorek and Moab have original illustrative extents, not archaeological boundaries. No exact pin is assigned to Joshua’s unnamed farewell venue, the witness altar, Bochim, Shamgar’s battle or Jephthah’s Jordan fords. City or mountain identifications do not locate a particular house, field, temple, altar or battle position.

Chronological choices are explained in event context: Judges 20:28 locates the civil-war narrative within Phinehas’ lifetime; Judges 17–21 are not assumed to follow Samson. Ruth 1:1 provides only the judges-era setting. Neither judges’ durations nor Ruth’s genealogy are turned into unsupported individual BC dates. The Ebal reading in Joshua 8 is distinct from the later assembly at Shechem in Joshua 24. See `content/README.md` for maintenance details.

## Samuel–Solomon draft expansion (October 6, 2026)

The 48 stops in `content/authored/united-kingdom.json` and their editorial notes are original paraphrases of the bundled public-domain BSB, covering 1–2 Samuel and 1 Kings 1–11. Related passages are labeled as comparison, recalled narrative, prophecy or teaching. All additions remain Draft for editorial review; checking references while drafting is not a claim of independent historical verification.

Place candidates use [OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data](https://www.openbible.info/geo/) (CC BY 4.0). Each place carries a direct source link. Conservative proposed-site labels are retained for disputed identifications, including [Nob](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/afdda14/nob), [Ziklag](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a0ed7ff/ziklag), [Samuel’s Ramah](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a90f6e1/ramah-4) and [Endor](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/aca444b/en-dor). Regional boxes are editorial approximations around the named geographic settings, not boundaries from OpenBible or archaeological claims about a cave, camp or battlefield.

The `united-monarchy` map uses the existing Natural Earth and Mapzen relief sources credited above, with geographic labels and no political borders. Relative dates and narrative-order cautions are documented in `content/README.md` and in the relevant event context. The two accounts of Saul’s death and the differing introductions to David’s census are presented without silently erasing those distinctions.

The note on Saul’s age-and-reign formula follows the [BSB textual footnotes on 1 Samuel 13:1](https://biblehub.com/bsb/1_samuel/13.htm), which identify differing manuscript readings rather than a secure basis for a precise calendar.

## Divided Kingdom draft expansion (October 6, 2026)

The 53 original teaching stops cover 1 Kings 12–2 Kings 24 from the bundled public-domain BSB. Complete passage coverage and automated validation do not certify the history or complete editorial review; all additions remain Draft. Related readings distinguish parallels, recollections, prophetic context and teaching connections.

Place candidates use the OpenBible data credited above, with direct identification links in each place record. Tirzah, Ramoth-gilead, Riblah and the traditional Sinai candidate are proposed. Extents for Mount Carmel, Moab, the Jordan valley and Habor–Gozan are editorial teaching regions, not archaeological boundaries or a complete distribution of deportees. The three new maps use Natural Earth; the regional map also reuses the credited Mapzen relief. No fixed kingdom/empire borders or exact deportation roads are claimed.

Two external chronological anchors are linked in the relevant stops: the British Museum’s [Assyrian gallery description](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/assyria-lion-hunts) dates Sennacherib’s conquest of Lachish to 701 BC, and its [Babylonian Chronicle record](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1896-0409-51) identifies the first capture of Jerusalem in 597 BC. These attest campaigns and their dates, not every detail of the associated biblical narratives. Other entries retain textual relative dates. Reign overlaps, the uncertain order of some Elisha accounts, the Kings/Chronicles distinctions and the difference between the 597 BC deportation and the later destruction are documented in each affected stop and in `content/README.md`.

## Exile & Return draft expansion (October 7, 2026)

The 52 original stops use the bundled public-domain BSB for 2 Kings 25, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther and the selected prophetic and poetic readings itemized in `content/README.md`. They remain Draft, with source checking during authorship distinguished from an independent historical audit. Full coverage applies to the four primary narrative units, not all of Jeremiah, Ezekiel or Daniel.

OpenBible place candidates retain direct source links. New identified localities include [Susa](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a033b84/susa), [Ecbatana](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a212ef7/ecbatana) and [Tahpanhes](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/adb008c/tahpanhes). The existing proposed Mizpah and Riblah identifications remain cautious. Babylonian and returned-settlement extents are original geographic illustrations based on the cited passages, not migration corridors or administrative borders. New Persian maps use the Natural Earth sources above, and the regional map reuses the existing relief; fresh builds need no new downloads.

Historical and interpretive cross-checks include the British Museum’s [Babylonian gallery](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/mesopotamia-1500-539-bc), which dates the Persian conquest to 539 BC; the Metropolitan Museum’s [Cyrus Cylinder exhibition](https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2013/cyrus-cylinder), for wider imperial context; and the USCCB’s original translation notes on [Daniel 6](https://bible.usccb.org/bible/daniel/6), [Ezra 4](https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezra/4) and [Ezra 7](https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezra/7). These identify the unresolved Darius the Mede, the later city-wall correspondence and the debated setting of Ezra’s mission. Their commentary is not copied into the app. Biblical verse links use the bundled BSB’s versification, which can differ from those notes.

The Cyrus Cylinder is broader context, not a verbatim copy of Ezra’s decree or independent proof of every return narrative. The atlas uses relative date labels and the received Ezra–Nehemiah sequence rather than presenting a disputed exact chronology as settled. It keeps poetic, visionary, remembered and narrated settings distinct, and makes no claim to locate the composition of a lament, a visionary valley, or Daniel’s unnamed prayer room and den.

## Between the Testaments historical bridge (October 7, 2026)

The 19 historical stops are original, brief teaching paraphrases with explicit external reading links. They remain Draft. This is selected background rather than a completed scholarly audit or an exhaustive history of the period. No external translation or manuscript image is copied into the app.

Ancient readings include USCCB chapter pages for [1 Maccabees](https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1maccabees/0) and [2 Maccabees 4](https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2maccabees/4) and [6](https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2maccabees/6), and Josephus’s *Antiquities* in William Whiston’s historical translation hosted by the University of Chicago: books [12](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-12.html), [13](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-13.html), [14](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-14.html), [15](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-15.html) and [17](https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-17.html). Each stop identifies its relevant chapter/section. Josephus writes retrospectively, and the hosting edition’s older chronological annotations are not all adopted. Narrative claims are attributed rather than treated as archaeological certification.

Modern contextual sources include the Metropolitan Museum’s [Hellenistic age overview](https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/art-of-the-hellenistic-age-and-the-hellenistic-tradition), Gilles Dorival’s [Septuagint study](https://academic.oup.com/book/39198), and the Israel Antiquities Authority’s [scrolls introduction](https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/introduction?locale=en_US), [discovery sites](https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/discovery-sites?locale=en_US) and [historical timeline](https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/historical-timeline?locale=en_US). The last is used for the specific linked anchors (Alexander, the civil war and Pompey), not copied wholesale: its simplified periodization is not a substitute for checking individual events. Temple rededication follows the conventional 164 BC date in the USCCB chapter notes. Source disagreements should remain reviewable.

Canon distinctions are stated using the [Catholic canon list](https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/36/index.html) and the Orthodox Church in America’s [canon explanation](https://www.oca.org/questions/scripture/canon-of-scripture). No one Christian tradition’s boundaries are presented as universal. Historical-source labeling describes how readings are used and accessed in this atlas; it does not deny Maccabees’ scriptural status in traditions that receive those books.

City coordinates reuse the credited OpenBible data with direct identification links. Regional extents are editorial approximations, supported by the named source’s general setting rather than a surveyed border. The two new base maps use the Natural Earth geometry and existing Mapzen relief credited above. Related Bible passages use the bundled public-domain BSB and are labeled as comparisons or later context, not primary evidence for an external account’s precise date.

## Life of Jesus context and geography pass (October 7, 2026)

The 120-event Theographic harmony has been retained with original teaching notes checked against the complete primary Gospel passages in the bundled public-domain BSB. Editorial primary-range overrides now include the introductions and genealogies, completed Jairus account, Bethany anointing parallels, John’s final public-ministry discourse and all of John 21. Acts 1:1–12 supplies the closing appearance interval. Coverage is every Gospel verse at least once; related passages are explicitly explained comparisons, not extra primary chronology. All content remains Draft.

Source notes and editorial decisions:

- [USCCB Luke 2 notes](https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/2): the census chronology problem is disclosed without adopting a speculative reconciliation.
- [USCCB John 5 notes](https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/5), [John 8 notes](https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/8), [Luke 10 notes](https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/10) and [Mark 16 notes](https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/16): consulted for the major manuscript issues noted in the app. Original concise paraphrases are used, not copied commentary. The application’s Scripture reader remains the BSB/KJV, not the USCCB translation.
- OpenBible candidate records: [Cana](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a031bda/cana), [Bethsaida](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a91b732/bethsaida-1), [Sychar](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a27b472/sychar) and [Dalmanutha](https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/ae8d09d/dalmanutha). Cana and Bethsaida are downgraded from imported identified labels to proposed. Sychar uses the Askar candidate; Dalmanutha uses the Majdal candidate, with alternatives acknowledged. No numerical source score is presented as certainty about an event.
- New regional extents are original teaching illustrations tied to the named Gospel settings, including Judean hills, the Jordan district, the Phoenician coast, the Samaria/Galilee transition, Caesarea Philippi’s region, the Mount of Olives vicinity and the Jericho area. Broad imported regions replace misleading city points; venue notes distinguish a city’s identification from the location of a house, pool or execution site.
- `content/maps/gospel-land.json` and its prepared asset use the same Natural Earth/public-domain geography and terrain attribution as the existing maps, without a fixed ancient political border. Egypt uses the existing wider Herodian map with its explicitly dated 4 BC outline. No ancient walking or boat routes have been invented.

Theographic records are unchanged on disk. Editorial overrides and original regions survive a fresh import; generated adapted Gospel data continues to carry CC BY-SA 4.0 attribution. These source checks and coverage tests do not substitute for independent historical, archaeological or theological review.